A community mental health innovation in mass media preventive education: The alternatives project

Abstract

An innovative mental health primary and secondary prevention program employing mass media was conducted in the Louisville metropolitan area. For 60 weeks during public service announcement time slots, 21 educational mental health and mental retardation messages were aired on local major radio and television stations. Three project goals were established: (a) improved mental health attitudes; (b) increased awareness of community mental health resources; and (c) increased utilization of community mental health resources. Systematic evaluation, based on data from client-initiated telephone contacts and surveys of the community, indicated that the project appeared to be successful in increasing awareness and utilization of community mental health resources. Positive change was indicated, overall, for attitudes related to cognitive structuring of problem situations. Attitudes related to behavioral resolution of problem situations appeared to be generally uninfluenced. Implications and future directions for the utilization of mass media in community mental health are discussed.

Television public service announcements as outreach for potential clients

“…A number of field studies have described the use of PSAs and mass media compaigns as linking mechanisms (Freimuth & Van Nevel, 1981;Friedrich, 1977;Iversen, Silberberg, & Belk, 1970;Leach & 1975; Neiger, 1970;NIMH, 1975;Schanie & Sundel, 1978). These campaigns were designed to urge a particular target audience to write, visit, or telephone the campaign's sponsoring organization so that the organization could provide information or services to the audience members who responded.…”

Dimensions and characteristics of lay helping.

“…In fact, community education programs and public service advertisements, gener ally viewed as quite acceptable interven tions by professionals, are also a type of "self-improvement literature ." Schanie and Sunde} ( 1978) , for example , reported the use of television messages to improve a com munity's cognitive and behavioral attitudes toward personal mental health issues. The program, which included messages such as the value of communication to resolve in terpersonal problems and of mutual listen ing for resolution of teen-parent disputes, did appear to influence attitudes positively about how problems were perceived, al though no changes were found on attitudes about appropriate behavioral resolutions of problems.…”

A media-based stress management intervention

“…Using the media, mental health professionals have helped individuals cope with depression (Munoz, Glish, Soo-HOO, & Robertson, 1982), publicized mental health and mental retardation themes (Schanie & Sundel, 1978), encouraged the development of supportive ties (Taylor, Lam, Roppel, & Barter, 1984), reduced the risks of heart disease (Farquhar, Fortman, Maccoby et al, 1985), and decreased smoking among minority inner-city residents (Jason, Tait, Goodman, Buckenberger, & Cruder, 1988). Winett's (1986) review of media interventions suggests that when properly framed and targeted, visual information can have strong effects on beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors.…”